Wayne State rallies past TU?women

December 6, 2013

DETROIT - Tiffin University coach Pam Oswald said she was pleased with the way the Dragons finished the first half.

They went into the break up 37-32 on Wayne State, in good position to go 1-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Oswald said the problem was that TU got a little too comfortable, and the Warriors took advantage.

Wayne State opened the second half on a 17-4 run, and the Dragons never recovered. They gave up 53 second-half points and lost, 85-65.

"We came out after halftime, we'd worked really hard in the last five minutes of the first half and seemed content," Oswald said. "I felt that we were stagnant in that second half. They went to the 2-3 zone. We're a team that likes to get into a rhythm. You can't get into a rhythm when you have four people standing."

Tiffin had only two player with strong offensive games. Center Bre Nauman had 16 points to go with 12 rebounds, while Kaylee Patton came off the bench for 13 points. But other than that, the offense struggled, making just 24 of 59 shots from the floor.

Wayne State, which improved to 2-1, 1-0 GLIAC, was led by Des Lavita-Stephens, who had 23 points, and Shareta Brown, who had 16.

Tiffin dropped to 3-2, 0-1.

TU offense goes cold

DETROIT - Some days, no matter how hard you try, the shots just don't fall.

Such was the case for Tiffin University's men's basketball team in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at Wayne State. The Dragons led, 33-32 at the half, but then went colder than the December wind.

Tiffin made just 16 percent of its second half shots, and lost to the Warriors, 65-51.

"Definitely give Wayne State some credit," TU coach Jerry Buccilla said. "In the second half, they picked it up a notch."

The Warriors finished with four players scoring in double digits. Leading the way was Bryan Coleman, who had 17 points and eight boards.

Joe Graessle had 11 points for the Dragons, but he made only 3 of 14 shots.

"It was one of those times where we didn't make shots," Buccilla said. "Our first 12 shots we attempted in the second half, we had eight in paint and made one. We missed layups. We missed 4-footers."

Ashton Khan had eight points off the bench for the Dragons (4-2, 0-1).

"I'm not disappointed in overall effort," Buccilla said. "I think we were there, it was just one of those nights."